Director General Ronald dela Rosa (center), chief of the Philippine National Police, gestures before the start of a Senate investigation on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017, on the death of Kian Loyd delos Santos, a 17-year-old student who was killed in an alleged drug crackdown, last Aug. 16. The killing has sparked public outrage over President Rodrigo Duterte鈥檚 so-called war on drugs. (Photo by AARON FAVILA / AP)
No, Bato, shedding tears in public will not solve your problems.
A lawmaker on Wednesday told the barrel-chested chief of the Philippine National Police, Director General Ronald 鈥淏ato鈥� dela Rosa, that crying in Senate hearings would not vanish questions about the suspicious and alarming killings of suspects in President Duterte鈥檚 war on drugs.
In a statement, Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque said Dela Rosa should instead make public inquest reports on the thousands of suspects killed in police operations, including 17-year-old Kian delos Santos and 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz, whose deaths in the hands of police provoked a public outcry.
He noted that under the PNP鈥檚 own operations procedure, there should be 鈥渘o presumption of regularity鈥� in police operations that result in the deaths of suspects.
Under Rule 15.4 of the police manual, 鈥渋nquest is mandatory when a suspect dies during a police operation,鈥� Roque said.
鈥淢y question to PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa is, where are the inquest reports of all these deaths?鈥� Roque said. 鈥淸These reports] are necessary to remove doubt on any irregularity in police operations in which the death of a suspect happened,鈥� he said.
鈥淐rying during hearings will not remove these doubts,鈥� he said.
On Tuesday, Dela Rosa broke down as he defended his organization from charges that it was behind the extrajudicial killing of thousands of drug suspects, saying President Duterte never gave him orders to kill.
In November last year, the police chief also cried when he appeared at the Senate under similar circumstances.
Roque said Dela Rosa should see to it that his men followed the police manual in drug raids, citing the suspicious circumstances in the deaths of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, who were separately gunned down two days apart by police in Caloocan City.
鈥淚t is alarming when two lives are ended too soon. It is doubly terrifying when these lives were ended by agents of the state,鈥� he said.
Police bible
鈥淚 expect Director General Ronald dela Rosa to order the PNP chain of command to enforce the strict observance of the provisions of the PNP-OP, as this is the police bible for any and all police operations. The families of Kian and Carl, and all the other victims deserve no less,鈥� Roque said.
Citing official data from the Philippine Information Agency, he said there were 3,811 deaths in the government鈥檚 campaign against narcotics from July 1, 2016, to Aug. 29, 2017.
鈥淚n fact, in one month鈥攆rom July 27 to Aug. 29鈥攖here have been 360 deaths at the hands of the police. The 3,811 does not even include the homicides with links to illegal drugs,鈥� he said.
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has also asked the PNP to open the investigation reports on those killings.
But Dela Rosa told reporters on Monday that he could not release the reports to the CHR without clearance from President Duterte.
He said Mr. Duterte had given instructions not to release the investigation reports without his permission.
Dela Rosa鈥檚 tearful defense of the PNP came after Sen. Risa Hontiveros made the observation that there seemed to be a policy to kill drug suspects in the war on drugs.
Talking to reporters later on Tuesday, Mr. Duterte said two deaths, referring to the killings of Delos Santos and Arnaiz, did not mean the government had a policy to kill drug suspects.
鈥淪he is so stupid,鈥� he said, referring to Hontiveros.
President鈥檚 words are policy
Hontiveros responded on Wednesday, saying the deaths of 8,000 to 13,000 suspects in the war on drugs showed there was a policy to kill despite Mr. Duterte鈥檚 denial.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a genius but I know that while two deaths do not make a policy, thousands dead, without remorse, regret or action from the government, do,鈥� Hontiveros said in a statement.
鈥淓ight thousand to 13,000 have already died in this bloody war on drugs, mostly from the ranks of the poor,鈥� she added.
鈥淧resident Duterte may insult me but he cannot deny the fact that his words coming from his lips, or those of any head of state, have the effect of policy,鈥� she said, citing Mr. Duterte鈥檚 鈥渨ell-documented record of encouraging violence against drug dependents and suspected drug pushers.鈥�
Vice President Leni Robredo joined the fray, calling on the PNP to prove to the people that it does not approve of killing drug suspects.
鈥淚 think it is the obligation of the police to show the people that they do not sanction these kinds of killings. Whatever they say, if it is contrary to what the people see, the question will always be there,鈥� Robredo said. 鈥�With reports from Nikko Dizon and Jeannette I. Andrade